Almost 250 women have come forward to claim a French civil servant drugged them during a job interview so they would urinate on themselves.
Christian Nègre is accused of lacing the alleged victims’ coffee and tea before taking them on ‘walking interviews’ around Paris and away from toilets.
He reportedly took secret pictures of the women interviewees and recorded details of the encounters on an Excel spreadsheet titled ‘experiments’.
Nègre was only caught when a colleague saw him photographing a female official’s legs in their office in 2018, after almost a decade of abuse.
His lawyer, Vanessa Stein, said he would not comment while the investigation continues.
One woman, Anaïs de Vos, has alleged that she told him after becoming desperate for the toilet, noting he looked ‘weird’ and ‘almost gleeful’.
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The former human resources director and civil servant at France’s culture ministry is accused of spiking 248 women with a powerful diuretic between 2009 and 2018.
De Vos, who was 27 at the time of the incident, told the BBC:‘I was really weak. I couldn’t really feel my legs any more. I was scared. I didn’t know what was happening.’
The incident took place in 2011 when she was being interviewed by Nègre, a senior official, for a job at the Ministry of Culture in Paris.
He offered her coffee, which she rarely drank, but she agreed out of politeness. ‘It tasted bad… so I drank about half,’ she said.
Nègre suggested they go outside but as they strolled through the street, a desperate need to urinate came over her.
She felt uncomfortable saying she needed the toilet so had said she was cold and tried to go back to the building, however, he continued to walk away.
‘He looked me right in the eye and said, “Oh, do you need a wee?” I thought it was really weird the way he looked at me, almost gleeful.’ He pointed to the door of a storage cupboard next to the River Seine and said: ‘You can do it here.’
What to do if you've been raped
If you have been the victim of rape, either recently or historically, and are looking for help, support is out there.
- If you have recently been raped and you are still at risk, ring 999 and ask for the police. Otherwise, the first step is to go somewhere you are safe.
- If you want to report your rape to the police, ring 999 or the police non-emergency line on 101. An Independent Sexual Violence Advocate (ISVA) will often be on hand to help you through reporting and even after you have made a statement, you can still decide to withdraw from the criminal justice process at any time.
- If you plan on going to the police, if possible, do not wash your clothes or shower, bathe or brush your teeth. If you do get changed, keep the clothes you were wearing in a plastic bag. These steps will help to preserve any DNA evidence your attacker may have left on your body or clothes.
- If you don’t want to contact the police, Rape Crisis suggest talking to someone you trust about what has happened; or you can ring one of the UK’s many rape and sexual assault helplines.
- Anyone aged 16+ can contact Rape Crisis's 24/7 Support Line by calling 0808 500 2222 or starting an online chat.
- If you have been injured, you’re best advised to go to your nearest A&E to seek medical treatment. If you are uninjured, you can go to your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC). The NHS has information on where to find your nearest centre here.
- If your rape is historic, you can still access support, including from the police – there is no time limit on reporting and your account can still be used as evidence.
Read more here.
She eventually found a cafe that let her use their toilet. By then she felt ‘so weak’ that she lost control and wet herself.
Another woman, Marie-Hélène Brice, was interviewed by Nègre six years later in Strasbourg for a job at the Ministry of Culture.
She claimed he told her she looked stressed so suggested a walk to ‘calm her nerves’. Brice began to experience an uncontrollable urge to urinate.
‘I was really starting to suffer… pains to the point that I was white, pale, I had tears streaming down,’ she said.
He had allegedly walked her to a location he claimed there was a public toilet but there wasn’t one. She then wet herself as she had no choice.
Nègre had offered to shield her with his jacket but Brice said he ‘didn’t take his eyes off her’, admitting she was ‘terribly embarrassed’ and ashamed for years.
The allegations against Nègre between 2009 and 2018 involve chemical submission – a concept linked to the 2024 case of Gisele Pelicot’s husband who sedated her for strangers to rape her.
Nègre, who is in his 60s, is under formal investigation on charges that include drugging, invasion of privacy and sexual assault. He is awaiting trial.
De Vos said she was grateful that he didn’t see her when she did eventually urinate, adding that her dress helped disguise what had happened.
She said she felt ‘dizzy and drained’ after the interview, which ultimately did not lead to a job, and had been left feeling self-conscious and suspicious of Nègre.
It was only in 2019 when she was contacted by the police that she found out what had actually happened to her.
They had reportedly found her through a spreadsheet on his computer, which was titled Experiments P, and detailed interviews, the time the diuretic was administered, what underwear they were wearing, and how long it took to take effect.
The investigation into Nègre began after he was caught taking a picture of a woman from under a table in 2018, as revealed by prosecutors in February.
He was suspended from his job as regional director of cultural affairs then sacked from his role in 2019.
Nègre’s case has been ongoing for seven years without resolution and it’s claimed by Fondation des Femmes that he is still employed in human resources.
The women are campaigning for the French government to take what happened to them seriously, with many considering it a form of sexual assault.
The government and police have not issued a statement on the case.
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